Guidance Notes and Best Practice Guides
DfT: More than 20 new motorcycle helmet safety ratings have been published by Road Safety Minister, Mike Penning, taking the total number of helmets rated by SHARP - the Safety Helmet Assessment and Ratings Programme - to 247.
The SHARP tests - which award ratings of between 1 & 5 stars - show that the safety performance of helmets can vary by as much as 70%. With helmets across a wide price range scoring highly all riders should be able to find a high performing helmet in a size and style that fits them and at a price they want to pay.
Newswire – AC: A free resource pack has been launched that will help make sure ‘money spent on services for young people is well-used and has the right impact’. Services for Young People: Value for Money Self-Assessment Pack is a collaboration between the Audit Commission and the Confederation of Heads of Young People's Services (CHYPS). It is free to download.
In 2009 the Audit Commission report 'Tired of Hanging Around' showed how sport & leisure activities could prevent young people being drawn into anti-social behaviour. It found that a young person caught up in the criminal justice system costs the taxpayer £200,000 by the age of 16, but one needing support to stay out of it costs less than £50,000. The report identified a need for councils and their partners to improve resources for young people. This new resource is designed to complement it.
The pack is organised into five modules which take users through a structured assessment of their services, drawing on their own & comparative data about spending & outcomes. It then helps them prepare an action plan to provide the best value for money services for young people, specifically tailored to their area and its resources.
HPA: The Health Protection Agency (HPA) wants to remind anyone who visits an open farm not to rely on sanitising hand gels or wipes to protect themselves or their children against germs that may be present in animal dirt around the farm. Hand gels can't remove contamination in the manner that soap & water can.
Following the publication in 2010 of the Independent Investigation into the outbreak of E.coli O157 at Godstone Farm in Surrey in 2009, the Health & Safety Executive have recently published new guidance for owners & managers of visitor attractions on preventing or controlling ill health from animal contact at visitor attractions. The guidance includes a supplement for teachers & others who organise visits for children.
In addition, the HPA, Department of Health and Defra have jointly produced a leaflet for the public 'Avoiding infection on farm visits' with information on how to enjoy farm visits safely.
Press release & links ~ Independent Investigation into the outbreak of E.coli O157 at Godstone Farm in Surrey in 2009
NICE: The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has published the process & methods guides for its Medical Technologies Evaluation Programme. This work programme focuses specifically on helping enable new medical technologies (or important modifications to existing ones) to be used more quickly & consistently in the NHS.
